Originally Posted by 767:
In today's world you are not going to see the Indy 500 champion at Daytona or the Daytona 500 champion at Indy. Thats how the series promoters want it. in the past it was easier to flip between the 2 because of the large despairity. DW annoys me during a nascar telecast, but 1 thing he always has right, is the racing has never been closer. No drivers win by a lap anymore. There is not much inovation in any racing anymore. Just about everything at the top levels is a spec format. Some inovation is coming to Indycar. i sure hope it does not change the racing, as the first 4 were as could as anyone could ask for.
Amen. It is an age of specialization; you won't see too many sprint car and midget drivers graduate to the 500 anymore, unfortunately. You also won't see Jimmy Johnson or Mark Webber either, JR or Hinch at the Daytona 500 or Monaco. Too many differences, fuller schedules, sponsor demands, public appearances.
I am thankful for this:
I live in the shadow of the shrine of motorsports, and still the largest single-day sporting event IN THE WORLD, and:
I am no more than a 2-hour drive from nearly a dozen dirt tracks where I can witness some of the best open-wheel racing I've ever seen.
It's too bad there's no longer the connection between the two that once existed, but it's stil pretty freakin' awesome...